


Change

by BoneStudio



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Hanzo Shimada has Prosthetic Legs, Jesse McCree & Genji Shimada Are Best Friends, M/M, Mystery, Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-28
Updated: 2018-07-09
Packaged: 2019-02-22 19:48:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13173960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BoneStudio/pseuds/BoneStudio
Summary: It all started when Jesse McCree asked for nicotine patches.It has been a year since the Recall and everyone is slowly getting back into the swing of things, although there are some new additions and issues that haven't been addressed. However, nothing could have prepared them for the change coming their way brought by the infamous Jesse McCree.





	1. No Smoke

**Author's Note:**

> This was a spur of the moment idea and I hope you guys like it.
> 
> Non-beta'd.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jesse McCree has stopped smoking.
> 
> Why?

It all started when Jesse McCree asked for nicotine patches.

Angela couldn’t believe her ears or her eyes when the words left his mouth and he pressed a tin can in her hand. Inside of it was all of the cigars and lighters she’d been trying to take from the cowboy for years. What should have felt like a well-earned victory was bittersweet as she looked from the can to the man in question. Jesse tipped his hat to her and ignored the stares of the other agents in the common area. An easy-going smile on his face as he shifted from one foot to the other, the silence drawing on as the question lingered in the air. 

“You’re quitting,” Genji muttered after removing his faceplate with a soft hiss. “You’re _actually_ quitting?”

Jesse didn’t seem perturbed at all from the disbelief. He tucked his thumbs in his belt loops and nodded. A hushed silence fell over the room again and he turned his attention back to Angela. She didn’t know what to say. It took her years of constant vigilance and pestering to get a cigar _away_ from him. But now he was quitting of his own volition and she felt  _confused_. 

“Jesse, I’m.." she trailed off and looked at the can in her hands as if it was a mirage. Part of her wanted to drag him into the medbay to see if he was suffering from any sort of food poisoning or illness. There was no conceivable reality in her mind that would lead to Jesse McCree giving up his vice without so much as a fight. "I don't know what to say," she whispered.  

Jesse's response came in a rumbling laugh as he rubbed the palm of his hand against his cheek. She hadn't noticed before but he actually trimmed his beard. It was shapely and his hair seemed to have been brushed and combed, pulled back in a low pony-tail. 

“Well, you could start with telling me where the patches are,” he quipped then clicked his tongue. "And some gum, mint if ya don't mind." 

The trek to the medbay was one of the longest walks Angela ever endured. She sifted through her supplies, sitting the tin can on one of the beds and sparing the cowboy a glance over her shoulder. Her gaze flitted between the can and his idle form as he leaned against the wall, whistling a tune and tapping his foot against the linoleum floors. This had to be some sort of dream or maybe a trick. Any moment now he was going to reach over and grab the can, tell her it was all a rouse, laugh and go to claim the money from some silly bet with one of the other members. 

However, he stayed idle until she held out a pack of double mint gum and nicotine patches, only giving her a tip of his hat in return.

“Thank ya kindly, madam.”

With that, he turned on his heel and left the medbay with only the tin can to remind Angela that this was real.


	2. No Drinks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 76 is convinced that McCree is messing with him but Ana isn't sure. The only thing to do is turn to someone Jesse _really_ trusts.

News spread across the Watchpoint like wildfire that Jesse McCree had surrendered his cigars. It was met by varying degrees of disbelief, concern, and confusion especially from those who’d known the outlaw prior to the Recall. If you’d asked anyone, they’d say that Jesse McCree would die with a cigar between his teeth and Peacekeeper in his hand, but no one was happy at the thought of it. Instead of dying in the blaze of glory that he deserved — Angela always prophesied that Jesse would succumb to some sort of disease or illness because of his vices _and yet_ he proved her wrong once again. For a whole two weeks, the outlaw wore the patches regularly and to subvert the habit to smoke, he chewed gum instead.

 

76 was ready to tell McCree off if he’d started popping the gum incessantly during meetings but the outlaw didn’t to everyone’s surprise. They knew just how much he loved getting under the old soldier’s skin especially with the unresolved issues that laid between them. But instead of popping his gum and sliding his chair back and forth as he teetered on the back legs, Jesse sat with his hands neatly folded on his lap and his hat pushed back so he could regard the speaker in the room with his full attention. A picture perfect soldier just as Jack Morrison would’ve wanted in Overwatch, and the old soldier hated every second of it.

 

“He’s got to be taunting me, Ana,” 76 complained to the old sniper as she continued cleaning the scope of her gun. “Kid’s been on his P’s and Q’s, and did you know he _actually_ gave Angela his cigars? Not even a decoy, they were _all_ there.”

 

Ana lifted the scope to her good eye to examine for any residue then lowered it with a sigh. “Jesse is a grown man, Jack,” she said softly, enunciating each word with a sharp glare. “If he wants to make a change — a _positive_ change to his life, then we should support him.” 76’s mouth opened and a rebuttal sat on his tongue clear as day, and just like the sharpshooter she was, Ana neutralized it before he even knew she was coming. “Not everything Jesse does is to spite you, Jack. If you’re that concerned, you should talk to him.”

 

And just like that, her attention shifted back to cleaning her weapon, the conversation finished before 76 could get another word in edgewise. Defeated and ego bruised, the old soldier stood up grumbling and exited the workshop, briskly walking past Torbjorn who’d been busying himself with a new turret. The two men acknowledged each other with eerily similar grunts, the workshop remaining quiet aside from the tinkering and shuffling of its remaining occupants until the door slid shut behind 76.

 

“So w’d’ya really think is goin’ on?” Torbjorn asked, rummaging in his toolbox noisily for a wrench. “Even if Jack’s right, that boy n’ver takes this long.”

 

Ana laid her scope down and rubbed the side of her face with a weary sigh. “I don’t know, Torb, but I may know someone very close to Jesse who could figure it out.”

 

Torbjorn stopped his tinkering and swiveled around to look at her seeing a familiar mischievous gleam in her good eye. Sending up a quick prayer for the soul caught in an Amari’s warpath, Torbjorn shook his head and decided the best thing to do was keep his head by his turret.

* * *

  


“You want me to spy on McCree,” Hanzo said bluntly, spitting the words out like they were the foulest thing he’d ever tasted. “I refuse.”

 

Convincing the elder Shimada brother to do something “ridiculous” was a task that not even Ana could accomplish on her own. With all of her skills as a mother and a soldier, Hanzo Shimada was one of the most stubborn men she’d ever met. So for this particular case — she’d have to call in the big guns.

 

“Aren’t you worried about the change in his behavior, brother?” Genji asked, cocking his head to the side. “I heard he’s even refused to drink at your usual meetings.”

 

The three sat around a rusted old table in the Watchpoint Gibraltar’s recreational room. Though, sat around might have been a strong word to use, considering it was Genji and Ana on one side while Hanzo sat with his arms crossed on the other. It seemed more like an interrogation if Ana was being honest. And she couldn’t say that her interest wasn’t piqued at the mention of these “usual meetings” or the idea of the Shimada brothers bonding even in these unusual circumstances.

 

Hanzo snorted and lifted his chin haughtily staring down his nose at them for half a second before common sense reeled in and he ceased the posturing. Ana was almost impressed, it took most people only a few nanoseconds to realize they’d messed up while speaking to her. At least Hanzo had gumption. Genji on the other hand, shook with silent laughter at his brother’s expense and Ana sharply pinched the cyborg’s ear, giving it a tug for good measure.

 

“Don’t tease your brother,” Ana chided, releasing it and ignoring his whining in favor of observing Hanzo. “So, what do you know?”

 

Hanzo grumbled, a wary glance thrown throughout the empty room before he met Ana’s eye. If the archer was looking for an escape point then he’d be sorely disappointed. Ana made sure that Bastion would be stationed outside of the doorway to the hall while Efi and Orisa sat in the kitchen, eating cookies she’d prepared for this occasion. From the look in Hanzo’s eyes, he knew he was defeated but his pride wouldn’t allow him to show it.

 

“McCree has been behaving _oddly_ as of late. We— well, _I_ tend to frequent the rooftop  and he joins me when he… runs into me,” Hanzo awkwardly forced the words out, carefully picking them under the scrutiny of his younger and mischievous brother, and Ana’s hawk-like gaze. “There are times where we drink but as of late, Jesse has been adamant in his refusal, I have not pressed for answers.”

 

While Ana compiled the information, one important piece stuck out, though before she could open her mouth to ask — Genji jumped on the payload and kept it moving at fast pace.

 

“I’m sorry brother, did you just say _Jesse_ ?! As in first name basis, _Jesse_?”

 

Hanzo’s mouth opened then snapped shut in quick succession and Ana could practically see the gears turning in his mind. Realizing his blunder, the archer practically flipped the table as he stood up, the two bickering in their native tongue complete with Genji’s raucuous laughter and Hanzo’s sharp words. Ana couldn’t be bothered to translate what they were saying and seeing as neither one of them were brandishing their weapons, it seemed best to leave them be.

 

But the mystery was growing. Jesse refusing to drink and smoke, while wonderful for the cowboy’s health, was odd. When he’d first joined Blackwatch, Ana had been like a mother to him even though they didn’t work closely together. She helped to mold his potential into skill and tried to steer him away from bad habits like drinking and smoking. It wasn’t a surprise when Jesse did it anyway. Rebellious even as a young man. Although he did a great deal of it away from her Fareeha, stating that he didn’t want her to grow up with bad habits lie he did, showing the kind hearted boy underneath all of the blood on his hands.

 

So what could be the cause now?

 

Worry compiled and Ana scowled, drumming her fingers against the table as the brothers’ bickering peetered out but her thoughts were louder than the sound of gunfire on a battlefield. Was Jesse involving himself in something more dangerous? Potent? Strong enough to sate his needs that they couldn’t know of?

 

“Ana,” Genji said, placing his hand on top of hers. “Please be at ease. Jesse has grown in the time that we’ve been apart just as I have, so perhaps he is seeking change to become comfortable in this new arrangement.”

 

The old sniper glanced down at the hand sitting on top of hers then to Genji’s face. His eyes bright and smile wide, a sharp contrast to the scowling boy that they’d watched mope around the base years ago. Hanzo seemed uncomfortable with looking his brother in the eye still but he hadn’t moved aside from sitting down and folding his arms, nodding his head with Genji’s words.

 

“I hope you’re right,” Ana sighed, setting her hand on top of Genji’s and giving it a squeeze.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait guys, my writing mood has been fluctuating lately but I'm back in the saddle.
> 
> The next update for this fic will be coming on: **July 13th**. 
> 
> As always, I love reading your comments even if they're suggestions for what's going on next, "I LOVE IT"s, or speculations on just what's going on with McCree. See you guys later!


End file.
